DNA ties 1984 cold cases of Patricia Smith and the Bennett Family

Six days before the Bennett Family was butchered and bludgeoned in their own home, Patricia Smith was killed by the same person, authorities will reveal at a news conference later today.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation recently tied the two 1984 cases together through a DNA match, said Steve Davis, spokesman for the Lakewood Police Department. The match has not yet been tied to a specific person, Davis said. But this John Doe will be charged with 18 counts, including three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of sexual assault, first-degree assault and two counts of sexual assault on a child and burglary.

the Bennett Family

On January 10, 1984, the suspect tied to both cases used a hammer to strike 50-year-old Patricia Louise Smith several times in the head in her Lakewood home. Six days later, the same man snuck into the home of Bruce and Debra Bennett. He bludgeoned and stabbed Bruce to death and raped and killed both Debra and their 7-year-old daughter Melissa. The killer also shattered the face of 3-year-old Vanessa, who survived.

Police went to great lengths to solve the case, removing part of the concrete garage floor to preserve a shoe print. A laser was used to get fingerprints from inside the home. Police had also found similarities between the attack at the Bennett household and nearby random attacks that happened days earlier along the Highline Canal and Alameda Avenue corridor.

Detectives are asking construction workers who were working on new residences near the Alameda Avenue corridor in January 1984 to call them.

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[…] To learn more about phenotyping I encourage you to read this article from Forensic Magazine. It discusses the case of the Bennett Family and should have mentioned the murder of Patricia Smith. As discussed here on my blog, six days before the Bennett Family was murdered (also in their own home), Patricia Smith was killed by the same person. […]

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